The powers-that-be really like to push booze and drugs on people, even using it to bait their traps. For example, up here in Beautiful British Columbia the government is on one hand lecturing "zero tolerance" for booze drinking, while on the other hand extending the hours the booze joints stay open, and opening up the sale of liquor to private enterprise. By the time they're finished, the local ice-cream parlour will be selling the stuff. Actually, I take that back, there won't BE any local ice-cream parlour when everyone shops at Stupid Store, oops, I mean Super Store.

This let-off-steam rant comes courtesy of my reading in the international press today [March 2003] that Savannah, Georgia's DUI (Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol) coordinator was caught driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI). Isn't that hilarious? But hey, Georgia, you aren't the only ones with a DUI DUI. We can go you one better.

Our actual PREMIER (equivalent to a Governor in the USA) was pulled over for a DUI while on holiday in Hawaii recently**. He was driving erratically and flunked the can-you-walk-a-straight-line test when he was pulled over. He was taken to the local lock-up and booked. To make matters worse, he was so intoxicated his mug-shot shows him grinning ear to ear like a Cheshire cat. He admitted to drinking several martinis and wine but couldn't remember if there was anything else.

Then when he comes back home to Canada after his less-than-perfect holiday he justifies his DUI by saying he wasn't on duty at the time. Then he and his government proceed to clamp down even HARDER on "zero tolerance", even talking about ignition-breathalizers for sheoples' cars. Oh, and in the meantime, in this very same province, the local politicians voted to support the handing out of free heroin, and maybe cocaine in the future. All funded by the taxpayer of course.

Anyway, the hypocrisy of it all gets so unbelievable sometimes that a person is almost at a loss as to what Orwellian category to put these topics under, or even what book. But, in a pinch, I go for "doublethink" out of "1984 and "breaking the 5th commandment" out of "Animal Farm". As usual, no one says it better than Orwell. ~ Jackie Jura

PS - The Premier I was telling you about - the one who got the DUI in Hawaii - well he'd actually hit the pages of Orwell Today in a story from about a year ago. It was about whisky and a dead man's toe.

* DUI coordinator resigns after being charged with DUI. Associated Press, Mar 26, 2003
Savannah, Ga (AP)--Police said Brian P Harrell, 24, was arrested Friday in Athens after being stopped about 1:30am while driving without headlights on. Harrell - who has worked for two weeks as coordinator for the Chatham County State Court's newly developed DUI program - said he had been drinking "but not much," police said. Tests indicated Harrell's blood-alcohol level was 0.13. The limit in Georgia is 0.08. The State Court DUI program is a pilot project intended to help offenders avoid incarceration by following probation.

** Canadian Official Fined for DUI Charges, Austin Statesman, Mar 24, 2003
LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP)--The premier of the western Canadian province of British Columbia pleaded no contest Monday to driving drunk during a Hawaiian vacation in January. Gordon Campbell was ordered to pay fines and fees totaling $913, complete a 14-hour alcohol assessment program and have a substance abuse assessment. Under a no contest plea, the defendant neither admits nor denies the charge but agrees not to contest it. "Mr. Campbell is sufficiently embarrassed and ashamed for what he did, as well he should be,'' said District Judge Reinette Cooper. Campbell was not in court. Lawyer Steven Barta said his client had already completed the required programs in Canada. He also brought a check from Campbell to pay the fines and fees. In the provincial capital of Victoria, Campbell said he was treated fairly and no longer drinks alcohol. Campbell, 55, was pulled over Jan. 10 after police observed him driving erratically in a rented sport-utility vehicle. Campbell's blood-alcohol reading was 0.161 percent, more than twice the legal limit, in a roadside sobriety test. In a tearful news conference after returning to Vancouver two days later, Campbell apologized to British Columbians, but refused to resign as premier. He said he drank three martinis and some wine before getting behind the wheel.

BC Premier Campbell's stunning resignation leaves fate of party, HST up in the air
GlobeMail, Nov 3, 2010
A caucus rebellion among B.C. Liberals has pressured Premier Gordon Campbell to quit abruptly, leaving his party in disarray and casting even more doubt on the future of his controversial harmonized sales tax. Mr. Campbell, Canada's longest serving premier, with a decade in office, was riding high in the reflected glow of the Olympic Games just eight months ago. But he has suffered a breathtaking collapse in support since, as a popular uprising over the HST sent his ratings to single digits, and put his party far behind the opposition New Democrats.... Mr. Campbell's resignation just 17 months into his four-year term – coupled with B.C.'s fixed election dates – leaves the province in the extraordinary position of having an unelected premier for two years or more...

Minister wishes Canadians would get upset over drunk driving
CFRA Ottawa, Nov 18, 2007
Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day refuses to comment over the use of a Taser on a man who died at the Vancouver Airport last month. But Day says he wishes Canadians were as outraged over impaired driving deaths as they are over the death of a Polish immigrant shot with a Taser by the RCMP. Day told a crowd in BC this weekend that the death of Robert Dziekanski was tragic and it was right that the nation was aghast because he died needlessly. But he points out drunk driving accidents also claims countless lives and no one seems shocked.

BC Premier hasn't seen taser video yet (just watched part of it). CBC, Nov 15, 2007Premier Gordon Campbell says a video recording released Wednesday shows there is room for improvement in the way police use Tasers. "I've seen part of the tape," Campbell said Thursday. "I haven't had a chance to see the whole tape. Obviously it's very disturbing to me and to others who have seen it, and obviously we can learn from it and do much better." Campbell was one of several politicians commenting Thursday on a video recording of Robert Dziekanski dying at Vancouver International Airport after being stunned by RCMP with at least two hits from a Taser during the early morning hours on Oct. 14. B.C. Solicitor General John Les said Tasers are not as lethal as a service revolver, and they have been used consistently over the past years with just two fatalities associated with them in B.C. since 2005. Six people have died in police Taser-related incidents in B.C. since 2003...It is up to the Criminal Justice Branch, headed by B.C. Attorney General Wally Oppal, to appoint a special prosecutor. Special prosecutors are non-government lawyers who are appointed to oversee cases that may place Crown prosecutors in a conflict of interest. Oppal, who is meeting with other provincial justice ministers in Winnipeg, said Thursday he wants to hear the police side of the story before making any decisions. He said that like anyone else, he was shocked by the video of Robert Dziekanski's death Oct. 14 at the Vancouver airport, but he is not considering a moratorium on Taser use. Other provincial justice ministers said they're not rushing to judge the use of Tasers, despite the number of people who have died after being zapped by the guns. At least eighteen people have died in Taser-related incidents across Canada since 2003. Manitoba Justice Minister Dave Chomiak said there is no conclusive evidence that proves Tasers cause death....